Thursday, July 21, 2005

We're all in this together

Carrie asked 2 valid questions, but I've rephrased them into one:

Do the benefits of putting your children's pictures on the internet outweigh the risks? (of potentially sharing their picture with pedophiles)

According to National Alert Registry 2,000 children per day go missing. Using those statistics, that is 40 children per state. Annually that's 14,600 children per state. Certainly some states have more missing children than others, but that's an astounding 730,000 nationwide. Prior to doing this research, I had no idea the numbers were so high.

*I've added this paragraph & additional resource as a result of 2 comments questioning the statistic that National Alert Registry gave of 2,000 missing children per day. I found this supporting information on The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's website. "According to NISMART-2 research, which studied the year 1999, an estimated 797,500 children were reported missing; 58,200 children were abducted by nonfamily members; 115 children were the victims of the most serious, long-term nonfamily abductions called "stereotypical kidnappings"; and 203,900 children were the victims of family abductions." Remember, this is according to a 1999 study, NOT a 2004 or 2005 study!

JC is waiting until her grandson is old enough to decide if he wants his picture on the internet. Until then, she only shares them with her friends. Weirsdo of The Pansi Files takes a pro-active approach & I think that's the way to go. I've decided to provide links to help parents arm themselves with knowledge & resources. I realize this may sound like I'm beating a dead horse, but these are little children we're talking about here, our most precious commodity.

SOC-UM-Safeguard - This website has a wealth of information including lots of info on internet safety for your kids.

Klaas Kids Foundation - founded by Mark Klaas, father of 12 year old Polly Klaas who was abducted & murdered. This site provides helps tips for parents and also gives information in case your child goes missing. (also look up the take home child ID kit)

Beyond Missing - also founded by Mark Klaas. Works in conjunction with the U.S. Dept. of Justice & provides fliers for missing children. It's helps you get the word out to the media, Amber alerts, parent tools & much more.

scanusa.com - This is a free, nationwide program. They will notify you via computer, cellphone or PDA for up to 5 zipcodes of your choice. You can choose which alerts you want to be notified of:
neighborhood crime, terrorism, sexual predators moving into the area (I just got a notification of 1 today), weather, natural disasters, cyber attacks, fire advisories, health emergencies, as well as neighborhood public safety information.

As always, I'd like to hear your opinions.

posted by jane at 8:45 AM